A Trainer's Bonds
by Gamaongaku
Summary: Based on the idea of pokemon living in our world, bouncing off of HandsOfFate's works. Follow Scott from a small town in Mississippi as he travels across the nation on his own journey.
1. Chapter 1

This work is based on the premise of the great HandsOfFate's "A New Master's Quest," which I HIGHLY recommend you go check out. It's worth it.

*Thump* Scott's hands ached and his skin burned. *Thump* The air around him seemed to shimmer from the heat. *Thump* Air wheezed out of his lungs as he looked into the sky. Today was a hot one, to be sure. But work was work, and it had to be done. Around him little eyes peered up at the eighteen year old, as if to ask permission.

"Alright, guys. I think it's time we take our lunch break before I die of heat stroke," he said as he set down the post-digger. Cries of joy erupted from the small, red chicks around him and the ten or so torchic went skipping back to the house ahead of him, blissfully unaware of just how hot it was outside. A small _harrumph_ drew his eyes lower to the small dog. It's hair was mostly a medium brown with lighter tufts around the face, and a small patch of purple sprouted from its back. "Fire pokemon, am I right Lillipup?"

*Harrumph*

Scott allowed himself to take in the scenery around him. His family lived on a small farm in Mississippi just near the Alabama border. Here they grew a veritable ass-load of crops. More peas than you could count, corn, watermelon, and much more. They also had recently started raising torchics, which was proving to be harder than anyone could have prepared them for. The little devils had just started learning to cough up smoke and had, on more than one occasion, convinced the fire department that the woods were burning. But still, carefully raised torchics were high in demand lately and people were paying a pretty penny for them.

He and Lillipup made their way back to the house together, laughing at how the little chicks waddled and tripped in excitement. He banged the dirt off of his tools, took his shoes off, and walked inside. "Hey, taking my break," he called into the house to his parents. He heard no response, which wasn't out of the ordinary. His father had recently injured himself and required his wife's aid, leaving them unable to work for the next few weeks. Most likely, they were fast asleep thanks to his pain meds and her exhaustion.

Scott carried some food out to the torchics, and set up a plate of food for Lillipup before microwaving a burrito for himself. "Wanna see what's on TV buddy?" Lillipup yelped a yes, and the two sat on the couch to enjoy their next few hours. While lunch breaks are normally short, in the summer heat of Mississippi it was smart to stay in for longer. On the screen came a woman dressed in a white coat. Her hair was done up above her head and Scott had to admit that she was pretty attractive.

"This is a message for all you trainers out there," the woman said. "I'm Professor Juniper, and I'm representing the Pokemon League." Scott took a swig of his drink, petting Lillipup on the back of his neck. " We're looking for new trainers to travel alongside and work with pokemon, so that we might understand more about these amazing beings. How did they come into being? How can we grow together with them? And most importantly, how can we improve our world with their help? The best way to learn these answers is for all you trainers out there to get out there and bond with your partners. And what's the best way for _THAT_? Take the League challenge!" At this point the music swelled and showed highlights from previous years' tournaments. Scott leaned forward and took in the amazing sights before him. He could remember each and every one of those fights, as he had watched them live on the air as they took place.

It was no secret that Scott had always wanted to take the Pokemon League challenge. His own room was plastered with League posters and snapshots. His childhood dream was always to travel the world as a pokemon trainer. But, life doesn't always work out as you want it to. His parents moved out to this little farm and he accepted that they depended on his help. Money was tight, and you would have to be really good to make a living out of pokemon battles. Just as he was about to change the channel out of sadness, Juniper appeared back on screen.

"For those of you on the fence about it, then here's your chance to learn. We're holding a tournament in Meridian on July 25th with a cash prize. Anyone looking to test their mettle and see how they fare is welcome. Open registration!" After that a bunch of information flashed on screen like the address and the website for more information. Both Scott and Lillipup stood up from this news. All tournaments that Scott had ever heard of were restricted to trainers with a certain number of badges. If this truly was a tournament for people trying to decide if they wanted to become trainers, then this was the chance they had been waiting for. They looked at each other and started giggling in excitement.

"Lillipup, did you hear that! We can do it! We can try!"

"Lill- Lillipup!"

Scott picked up the small pokemon and danced in a circle for a second until he realized something. The date. It was the 16th. They only had nine measly days to prepare, meanwhile this commercial had likely been airing for at least a month. "Come on, buddy," he said with new determination. "We have to start preparing."

The first order of business was to let his parents know. The next few days of training would definitely cut into the farm-work that had to be done, and he couldn't imagine them being happy about this. He crept to their door and knocked to see if they were awake. A grunt on the other side let him know they were, and so Scott went in with Lillipup at his heels.

His parents weren't ecstatic about his decision. With Scott devoting his attention to this tournament, they'd have to hire a neighbor kid to do the work that they couldn't. But they could also see just how much this meant to their son. From the time he could talk, all he would say is that he wanted to grow up to be the best pokemon trainer in the world. After sending Scott out of the room to talk amongst themselves for a bit they called him back. His father was standing over by his dresser and spoke first. "Son, we understand just how much this means to you. I always wanted you to be able to live your dream and see the world."

Scott didn't like where it sounded like this was going.

"But this definitely will set us back a bit. You're the best at teaching these torchics, and you know I'm not able to work as hard as you right now." At this point Scott was biting his tongue so that he didn't start crying. He knew what they were going to say. "So if you're going to do this, you need to do it right. You need to be good so you make some money from this whole thing.

What.

Scott's eyes shot over to his mother and she was smiling from ear to ear with excitement. "Of course we want you to do this," she told him. "What parents DON'T want their son to live his dream!" All Scott could do was to embrace his parents letting his tears fall openly now.

"But like I said," his dad told him. "If you are going to do this, you need to do it right." Scott's father opened up the top drawer of his dresser and pulled out several round objects. "We never could afford to get you any fighting pokemon, but we were able to get you these poke balls." Scott took the six minimized pokeballs from him, and eyed them over. They were standard poke balls, with red on top and white on the bottom and a small button in the middle. He pressed the button on one of them and laughed as it grew in his hand. He had always wanted to see how that happened in person. "Now go," his father told him. "I have to call up Josh to see if he can help out, and you have to go train. You can use Lillipup, but we need those torchic. They're worth too much and we can't afford to spare them."

Scott nodded his head and left his parents' room. He and Lillipup ran outside to start training. Easier said than done. Lillipup, while being Scott's best friend since childhood, had never been a battling pokemon. The two worked hard to understand what the small dog pokemon could do.

"Lillipup, let's see a Leer!" With that the pokemon turned and looked at him with glowing, anger-filled eyes. It was strange seeing his best friend so angry. He felt his arms lose their tension and his body sort of relaxed in response. After just a moment of holding this stare, Lillipup blinked and gave a cheerful yelp.

"Oh. Um, good job Lillipup. Let's try a tackle attack on that post over there!" Scott gave a few blinks and looked around. He felt as if he was unguarded, unsafe even. Leer was definitely a scary move to be on the receiving end of. He shook his head and watched Lillipup plowed right through a wooden post, splintering it in half. "Great job, buddy! Man you're looking great out there." The Lillipup strutted its way back to its trainer and held his head high in pride. Scott could only laugh at the sight of such a tiny pokemon with such an ego.

Something caught his attention from the other side of the yard. The torchic had all stopped playing, and were crowded around a large lump in the ground. As soon as he saw the lump move, Scott bolted. "Lillipup, a pokemon!" The small dog ran ahead of him and began barking orders for the torchic to go back to their little house. Afraid of the angry pokemon, they fled to go huddle inside of their little hut. With that taken care of Lillipup delivered a nasty tackle attack to whatever that mound was.

From within came flying what looked like the world's biggest mole. It was covered in blue streaks and had a white face, although the most striking quality was easily the fact that it had enormous claws. For a second Scott gulped and hoped they weren't biting off more than they could chew. But as he watched he realized that Lillipup was easily on the winning side. He decided to jump in and help his pokemon with the fight.

"Alright, now tackle it again!" Lillipup charged the Drilbur and plowed into it again, sending it sprawling. "Ok you. You're mine!" Scott drew and tossed a poke ball at the mole pokemon. Upon contact, the ball sprang open and Drilbur converted into pure white energy before being sealed inside the ball. A bead of sweat streaked down his forehead as Scott watched the ball shake, letting out a laugh when he heard a ding. "Holy crap, I just caught a pokemon," he said to himself, slumping down to his knees. Lillipup bounded up to him and sprang up into his trainer's arms.

Carrying Lillipup, Scott walked up to the poke ball and grabbed it, immediately feeling a tingling sensation. He almost felt like the poke ball was covered in dirt, despite the fact that it was completely clean. Shrugging it off, Scott made his way inside to research his new companion. Things were looking pretty good for that tournament.


	2. Chapter 2: Training Woes

Chapter 2: Training Woes

The next few days were filled with training from sunrise to sunset. With every passing second he spent with his pokemon, Scott felt more and more… _comfortable? _he thought. Lillipup was doing great, seemingly just as headstrong and determined as its trainer. But there was a problem.

"Come on, Drilbur," the trainer called out to the large mole. "You have to learn how to dodge quickly! If you don't you're just a sitting duck for damage." Lillipup had just barreled into Drilbur with another tackle attack, which Drilbur was _supposed_ to dodge.

"_Driiiiill_," the pokemon moaned. It was obviously exhausted, but with the tournament just two short days away, time was running out. It rolled onto its tummy and stood back up to face Lillipup.

"Look, you don't have to model what Lillipup does. He's smaller and more agile. Think on your feet," his trainer said, although honestly Scott was just as confused at what to do as Drilbur. When he had caught the pokemon he was too impressed with Lillipup to see how Drilbur fought. Now that he was up close, he wasn't convinced the pokemon could hold his own in a serious fight. The mole was big, bulky, and a little too unsure of itself, as if it was holding itself off from taking initiative. Behind him the torchic saw the bigger pokemon training and took it as a game, taking turns barreling headfirst into each other and sending one another sprawling.

"Great," Scott muttered to himself. "Now I have to spend time teaching _them_ to dodge correctly. Nobody's going to want a torchic that thinks it's fun to get hit." Unfortunately, Drilbur also saw their game and took it as them insulting him. The pokemon hung its head in shame and walked back to sit in the shade of the porch.

Scott could only feel bad for the pokemon. It definitely was fast enough, but it just couldn't get a hold of this concept. It also was slightly hesitant to attack a target head-on. Lillipup took pity on its new training partner, and trotted over to sit by the dejected mole. This gave Scott an idea that would play off their friendship.

"Ok guys, I think it's time that we worked on double battles!" Lillipup jumped at the idea, leaving Drilbur to just stare questioningly. "Oh yeah, I forget that you are new to this whole thing," Scott said, turning to the mole pokemon. He shielded his eyes from the sun's glare, "well, double battles are like normal battles, only there are two pokemon on each side, instead of it just being a one-on-one. It takes lots of skill, and it takes lots of trust between the two pokemon." Drilbur nodded its head to show that it understood. "So let's see… Drilbur knows Scratch, Mud Sport, Rapid Spin, and Mud-Slap while Lillipup knows Tackle, Leer, Odor Sleuth, and Bite."

Scott began running scenarios in his head. "Well, I can only really think of one scenario where you guys have attacks that can be used in tandem. Ok, Drilbur, you hold Lillipup." Upon hearing this strange request, Drilbur hesitated before slowly and gently picking up its furry friend. "Now, I want you to use rapid spin, and throw Lillipup. Lillipup, you use that new momentum into an insanely powerful tackle!" Lillipup began immediately protesting, squirming violently in its friend's grasp. Interestingly enough, Drilbur only smiled at the orders. Maybe there was a bit more to this seemingly timid pokemon than Scott had thought...

The air around Scott seemed to be sucked away as Drilbur spun around in a circle, now just a blur of brown and blue. Suddenly, a shot of tan flew out of the whirling tornado. Lillipup flew across the entire acre long crop patch, tearing through stalks of corn and leaving a tiny trail of devastation in his wake. It was almost as if someone had shot an adorable, shaggy cannonball. Lillipup clinched its eyes together and slowly lowered its head into a Tackle, praying to whatever gods there were that it would land in the fast approaching mound of soft dirt. It didn't, and instead plowed head-first into a tree.

* * *

><p>"How did this happen, again," the nurse asked Scott as he recalled the still dizzy Lillipup into its poke ball for her to heal.<p>

"We were… building a barn. And a 2x4 fell and hit my Lillipup in the head," Scott sheepishly answered, too embarrassed to tell the truth of the matter. After the accident, Scott and Drilbur ran to where Lillipup had landed, only to find the small dog pokemon confused and dizzy. The trainer collected his pokemon, ran to his car, and drove for twenty minutes to the nearest Pokemon Center. He stood at the front desk of the nearly deserted hospital, thankful that nobody was there to see just how dumb he looked.

"Must have been from up high, it really did a number on your Lillipup. But we can get him healed up good as new in just a little bit." The nurse gave Scott a knowing look, telling him that she wasn't buying his story but also felt that the kid wasn't looking to cause harm. She directed him to the waiting lounge and called for the next patient to approach the counter. From behind a kid pushed him out of the way, going on and on about how his Pidgey had swallowed his mom's ring.

Inside the waiting room smelled like bleach and old chewing gum, and it was absolutely empty except for some chairs lining the walls. The six Pokemon League had mandated that each town be outfitted with some sort of Pokemon Center, even if it's just a shed with a healing machine. Apparently this town took that wording almost to heart.

Scott wandered over to the nearest chair and pulled out his phone. There wasn't much to do in the room, and he hated being bored. To pass the time, he decided to pull up videos of pokemon battles. On the little screen a Tauros charged an Alazakam, the two pokemon locked in an insane battle between brute force and special power. It ended with the Tauros being thrown across the field by a powerful Psychic attack. He continued to watch matchups during his wait. Magmar versus Braviary, Talonflame versus Ampharos. He even got to see an Onix absolutely destroy a Corsola by causing giant earthquakes. A video thumbnail caught his eye and he clicked on it. It was a matchup between a Snorlax and some weird thing called a Wobbuffet. Before he got the chance to watch any more, he felt a tap at the knee.

"Chansey!" The large pink pokemon was wearing a nurse's hat and carrying a tray of poke balls, presumably for Scott. The chansey was a sight, carrying a tray of poke balls with its tiny arms high so as to keep it from bumping into the egg in its pouch.

"My pokemon are done healing already?" he asked, to which the pink pokemon nodded. Its odd, tentacle-like hair wiggled. "Wow, that was fast… Thanks." He collected the poke balls and the large pink mass waddled away. _Those things scare me_, Scott confided to himself. As he felt the poke balls, he had this strange sensation. One of them felt so dirty and gritty no matter how much he rubbed it. The other just felt like a normal old poke ball.

"This is too weird." Scott got back in his car and headed home.

By the time Scott had arrived home, it was quickly becoming darker. He gave a wave to Josh as the boy started his walk home and headed inside. Once safely in his room Scott let both of his pokemon out of their poke balls. "Ok, guys. We had some good work today, but I don't think we'll be trying that stunt again anytime soon." Drilbur looked embarrassed and tried to apologize to Lillipup, who would have no part in recognizing its own shortcomings. The little dog pokemon kept its head held high and chest puffed out in pride. "I think that if we all get a good night's sleep and have a quick spar tomorrow, then we'll be in good shape for this tourney." The two pokemon nodded before clamoring into bed with Scott. Together, the three of them drifted to sleep.

In the middle of the night, Scott got out of bed to get a glass of water. He slowly climbed over Lillipup, making sure not to step on the ground pokemon which preferred to sleep on the hard floor. As the trainer stood in the kitchen, sipping on his drink, he noticed just how quiet the house was at night. No bickering torchics outside, no mom and dad shouting for him from across the house. It was a little too quiet for him. To break the silence, Scott took out his phone, plugged in his headphones, and opened up YouTube to find more pokemon matchups. It wasn't until he had was staring at the video before Scott remembered that he had begun to watch a fight the previous day. In it, he saw the Wobbuffet stand absolutely still as the lumbering Snorlax approached. Scott could hardly stifle a laugh. The poor thing obviously was scared stiff.

Snorlax's trainer called for a Mega-Punch, and the hulking bear smiled wickedly as it drew a glowing fist back before plowing it right into Wobbuffet. Scott could hardly understand what was happening. He could understand the pokemon freezing up like that, but why the trainer?

He got his answer.

Wobbuffet's trainer said a single word. "Counter." Still bent back from the tremendous blow it had received, Wobbuffet began to glow with an orange aura before throwing itself right at Snorlax. The poor bastard didn't expect that, and hardly had time to throw its paws up to his face, taking the brunt of the devastatingly super-effective attack. Wobbuffet landed and gave a salute just in time for its opponent to come crashing down.

* * *

><p>Scott couldn't believe it! The pokemon didn't bother dodging out of the way, it just used Snorlax's power against it. That was the answer!<p>

The next day, Scott had his two pokemon outside getting ready to run the same drill as the previous day. Together, all three were doing simple stretches to limber up. The torchic had just made their way out of their little house when they saw the trio bending low to the ground. All of the little birds took this as them pecking at food and came scampering over to join in, making Scott and Lillipup shoo them off. Finally ready to proceed, Scott began their day's light training.

"Listen, Drilbur," he said to his pokemon. Scott tried to bend down to look Drilbur in the eyes, but that proved to be painful in the early morning so he contented to sit in the dew covered grass. "I think we should try something new." The pokemon sat next to him, staring at the grass in shame. "You don't seem to be any good at dodging, and maybe that's ok. What if you're meant to fight in a different way?" With that, the mole looked up and raised an eyebrow, in no subtle way telling its trainer to continue.

"I want you to let Lillipup tackle you, but listen for special instructions again, ok?" The mole pokemon nodded, stood up, and waddled over to its friend and sparring partner with Scott following suit. The two pokemon nodded at each other before taking a battle stance.

"Lillipup, Tackle attack!" Lillipup charged forward set to hit Drilbur head on. Drilbur waited anxiously for its trainer's command, hoping that this didn't end in pain again.

"Now, Drilbur. Use your Rapid Spin!" Drilbur wound up and spun in place, sucking the air and dirt around it into a dirt tornado of brown and blue. Lillipup, head set low for impact, ricocheted right off of the swirling mass and landed twelve yards away.

"Yeah! Holy shit, Drilbur! You owned that," Scottie pumped his fist, jumping up and down with excitement. Lillipup dashed over to its friend and tackled it to the ground, and the two pokemon laughed with glee. Even the torchic ran in and joined the celebration, although they seemed to mainly enjoy dancing around. "I think we're ready for tomorrow." The rest of the day was dedicated to letting the three of them recover after such a long week's worth of efforts. Lillipup sat on the porch enjoying the shade as Scott and Drilbur played with the fire pokemon.

Scott smiled to himself and thought of what his dad had told him. _Yeah, I'm going to do this thing right. I'm going to win._


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Just wanted to say thank you so much to the encouraging reviews and messages I've been getting. This is my first attempt at writing anything like this, so it's always great to get feedback. Also, the BIGGEST thank you to my beta LovingLyons! She's amazing and you should check out her Ice Lanterns fanfiction.**

Chapter 3: The First Trial

Scott was awake before his alarm clock was even close to going off. Halfway through the night he had jolted awake after a nightmare, accidentally pushing Lillipup off of the bed onto poor Drilbur. The two pokemon raised cries of shock and anger to their trainer.

"I'm sorry, guys," the trainer croaked out with a dry throat. "Guess I'm just a little nervous." Lillipup gave a disgruntled _harrumph _before climbing back into bed. Drilbur simply nodded and curled back up into what the pokemon must consider a nice, comfy ball on the hard floor. "Goodnight everyone."

But that after that incident, Scott never could fall back asleep. Visions from his nightmare flashed before his eyes, and continued to torture him.

* * *

><p>In his dream, Scott had found himself in the middle of a battle during tomorrow's tournament. He called out Lillipup against a trainer who had just defeated Drilbur in battle using some whirling, dark mass of a pokemon. Despite straining his eyes to the max, there was nothing he could do to discern anything about the new pokemon. The opposing trainer gave a smirk, and although the details were fuzzy Scott remembered her to be a thin-framed girl with fair skin and a smile that sent chills down his spine.<p>

The field around him began to melt away, as Scott was pulled headfirst towards the foe's pokemon. Lillipup gave out a cry of raw fear that Scott wouldn't ever be able to forget no matter how hard he could try.

Everything grew dark. Scott didn't know if he was just inside of the mass of shadows or if this was some attack. Scott drifted through the shadows, crying out for anyone who could hear him. In his pockets, the pokeball for Drilbur was gone and Lillipup had disappeared just like everything else. For what seemed like ages, Scott just hung suspended as clouds of shadow wisped by him.

In the distance was a green light, which flashed on and off. Scott couldn't tell if it was he moving to the light or the light moving closer, but either way the light drew near; it was doing so quickly. Before Scott could get a good look at what may or may not be the source of the light he was overtaken. All he could see was green, which wasn't much of an improvement over the blackness. Scott could hear Lillipup again somewhere, his cries never faltering.

"LILLIPUP," the trainer called out as loudly as he could. "LILLIPUP, PLEASE!" But it couldn't be helped. Wherever the small dog pokemon was, it was screaming too wildly hear its trainer's calls.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!<strong>_With the sound of his alarm clock came relief. Scott was glad to finally have a reason to wake his pokemon up, to have someone else awake and able to interact with. But with them waking up came the realization of what today was.

"Judgment day, you guys," Scott said, his voice betraying his somber mood. Lillipup looked at him with a confused stare. What had caused him to grow so sad about this tournament? This was the chance to get everything they've ever wanted! Although confused, the pokemon understood that its trainer was upset and could use some reassurance. Unfortunately Lillipup was about as good with mushy moments as a blind person was with appraising artwork, and the pokemon decided that a sharp bite to the side would cheer its trainer up enough to get him going with the day. All it managed to do was to scare Scott into falling off the bed, narrowly missing poor Drilbur who was still dozing on the floor.

After a light breakfast and a few cups of coffee, Scott was heading out of the door when a voice called him back in. "Where do you think _you're_ going, young man?" He almost face-palmed from the realization that he was about to head out without talking to his parents. Scott turned around to see his mother and father standing there, smiling with pride at their son. "You can't expect to leave without giving your mother a hug, could you," his mom asked, stretching her arms out wide. Scott could hardly suppress his smile and walked over to his parents for a big embrace.

"Thanks mom. I promise that I'm going to make you proud today." The trainer held his mom tightly for a few more moments and parted from her only to be enveloped by his dad's arms.

"Remember something, son," his dad said to him, parting the hug but keeping his arms on his son's shoulders. "No matter what happens, I'm so proud of you. You and your sister are the greatest things in the world to your mother and I. Nothing you could ever do would change that." Scott's sister herself was a trainer, having worked all throughout high school to save money and leave on her own journey. This was, of course, before Scott's dad had lost his job and they moved out to the farm seven years ago. The trainer squeezed his parents tighter before breaking off the hug.

"Thanks, dad. I promise that I'm going to do this thing right, and I promise I'm going to do my best." With that, Scott got into his clunky Chevrolet Lumina and drove off for the tournament grounds.

* * *

><p>When Scott drove up to the address given, he let out a low whistle. It seemed that lots of people wanted to watch this tourney, because the large parking lots were <em>packed<em>. A thick know twisted in his stomach as he visualized the stands filled with all of the people. Scott stopped the car next to a parking attendant and rolled down his window.

"You here for the show, son," the portly man asked him. Scott was grossed out, the man was wearing a white shirt lined with chewing tobacco stains. And by the looks of it the attendant's long, white beard had such stains as well.

"Uh, no. I'm here to take part in it." That seemed to be funny, because the man just chuckled outright, giving Scott a _wonderful_ view of the man's horrible teeth.

"Finally! We was thinkin' that we got only a few trainers!" Scott was confused. Surely there were plenty of trainers hoping to get this chance! All the same he decided not to sit, pondering it with the nauseating man any longer than he had to. Any second longer was another chance at losing his lunch. "Jus' drive up ter that sign and take a left. Tell the lady there that yur here to fight and she'll open the gate." Scott nodded slightly and quickly rolled his window up. _Southern charm_, he supposed.

Upon entering the field Scott was slightly startled. While the stands were no larger than the local high school football teams, they were packed in to the brim. That wasn't the strange thing, though; with any rural area a chance to get out for some entertainment was generally met with great approval. But the trainer's stands were sparsely populated. Only about eight trainers had entered in total, ensuring this would be a short tournament. Fortunately it seemed the people putting on this event had prepared for such an eventuality, and some tauros and other pokemon were available for light rodeo entertainment. When Scott reached the entrance table before the stand entrance, he was met by a beautiful brunette that looked to be about his age. "Hey there hon, you here to enter?"

"Uh, um.. yeah." The girl paid no mind to Scott's stutters and went about handing him all of the appropriate forms.

"The rules are really simple. For the first round or so you'll just have a one on one battle, nothing too crazy. If ya make it farther then it'll be a two on two from then on out. You're allowed to register only three pokemon but choose which ones you'll use before the match starts." Scott nodded his head when he thought it appropriate, only pretending to listen. This girl was stunning, and he couldn't take his eyes off her lips. He was transfixed on their movements, but the words were lost. "- then it'll be a three on three. If you win then there's a nice prize. You get all of that hon?" _Hon_. _HON! _She called him hon! All he could do was just nod and give a chuckle. "Alright then, go on in and fill these forms out, bring them back to me when you're done." Scott took the forms from the girl and went to find a seat, painfully aware of just how clumsy he might look in front of her. _Just play it cool, dude. You're here for a tournament, not pretty girls._

Scott made his way into the trainer's area and was immediately struck by how depressing the stands felt. Nearly everyone there wore a somber look of dread and anticipation. _Jeez, these guys are a lively bunch._ He filled out the forms and eagerly returned them to the girl at the table. His heart almost sank when he saw her act just as friendly to another participant. _What the hell!_ Comically enough the recipient of such treatment was blissfully unaware, content to fiddle with his many bug nets and traps. _Weirdo_. "Ok, let's see here, hon. Name, address, waiver, and pokemon." The girl frowned when she saw Scott's pokemon list.

"Is, uh, something wrong," he asked with a slightly wobbling voice. This was his first time talking to her! Surely one day their children would hear the tale of how she worked at the first tournament he ever took part in, and she'd sing his praises on how he had triumphed over all adversity and gone on to win every one after that.

"Yeah, you're supposed to have three pokemon," the girl said trailing off, jarring him from his little daydream.

"What."

She looked up at him with a look of pity. "I mean, how would you do well in the final round? I'll ask my supervisor if this is ok," the girl told him before pulling out a walkie-talkie. Scott had no idea what she was talking about, although he thought he could remember her mentioning the word three. He started to panic. All of his hard work, all of his dreaming was going to be wasted all because he didnt' have a third pokemon! He was lucky enough to have two, it's not like pokemon were just jumping out of the grass! "-News, they say you can compete," the girl said to him, jarring Scott out of his thoughts. "Apparently there's some girl with only one pokemon taking part, so you'll be allowed to enter. Good luck!" Scott's heart leaped. _Back on track_.

"Thanks," he managed to get out before being ushered out of the way for the next contestant behind him. Scott had to wait 30 more minutes for the event to begin, giving him a chance to scope out the competition. Unfortunately, it basically doubled in size to bring the total number of contestants up to sixteen. This was going to be interesting. The rest of the waiting time seemed to whiz by as Scott steeled himself for the battles ahead. Everyone moved in a blur, as if they were moving in super-speed. It wasn't until Scott looked up until he realized it seemed like they _actually were_ moving so quickly. After a few blinks everything returned to normal, but he couldn't shake an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Pre-show jitters?" Scott looked to the side to see a familiar face sitting next to him. There sat a boy about his age. He was taller than average and with a slim build. A messy crop of black hair jumped from his scalp in several directions, covering the top half of his ears. The boy wore a gray jacket with red vertical lines down the middle and baggy blue jeans.

"Chris!" The two trainers clasped hands and went in for a hug. "Dude, what the hell are you doing here?" Scott could hardly believe his eyes. The two boys hadn't seen each other since graduation a few months back, but were close friends for all of high school. Unfortunately, the two friends were busy non-stop, Chris with his father's store and Scott with the farm. The two never could manage to get together outside of school, and that pattern stayed true after graduation.

"I'm here for the same reason you are! Here to win this thing and finally travel the country." That was a no brainer, but Scott realized what was going on. The two friends were trying to become pokemon trainers, meaning one of their first battles may very well happen against each other.

"Dude, this is going to be so sweet." The two friends sat waiting for the bracket information to be announced, laughing and cutting up like old times. Their antics seemed to help the other trainers relax, and soon conversation bubbled all across the bleachers.

It wasn't much longer before announcers to make their way onto the field, sending a hush throughout the whole field. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our premier Young Trainer Tournament!" A cheer erupted from the stands, even garnering some awkward claps from the trainers themselves. "A word about today's events: we have a total of 16 competitors, allowing us to have four full rounds of battling. The prelims will consist of one on ones, and battles following suit will make up two on twos. This will lead into our explosive three on three all-out championship battle!" The crowd once again erupted into cheers. _This guy sure know how to work a crowd, _Scott chuckled to himself.

"Now for our first battle! Will a mister Eric Donalds and miss Sarah Reynolds take the field!" Scott clapped along with everyone until his arms fell to his sides, a sense of dread filling his whole body. Everyone around him stood up to applaud even more when the two trainers reached the opposite ends of the field. There, standing far to his right, stood the girl in his dream with a smile that sent shivers down his spine.

**Yeah, shit is happening! I promise that the next chapter will have lots of awesome battles!**


End file.
